Visiting Scholar
Ian Kelly
Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor of International Studies in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
Visiting Fall Quarter 2026
Ian Kelly is serving as the Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor in International Studies in fall 2025. Ambassador Kelly has served as Ambassador (ret.) in Residence at Northwestern and a member of the International Studies Program since 2018. A retired senior Foreign Service officer, Kelly served as US Ambassador to Georgia from 2015 to 2018 and as U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) from 2010 to 2013. He previously held senior roles at the U.S. Department of State, including Department Spokesman under Secretary Hillary Clinton and Director of the Office of Russian Affairs. Before his diplomatic service, he earned a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures from Columbia University. At Northwestern, Kelly currently teaches courses on Foreign Aid and U.S. Foreign Policy. In fall quarter, he is teaching a course called "Fall of USSR / Rise of Russia."
Maria Lipman
Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor of International Studies in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
Visiting Winter Quarter 2026
Maria Lipman will serve as the Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor in International Studies in winter 2026. Lipman is a political analyst and commentator whose work focuses on state‑society relations, media, and the politics of history in Russia. Her recent publications in Foreign Affairs include co‑authored articles such as “The Limits of Putin’s Balancing Act: What the Kremlin Will Sacrifice in Pursuit of Victory in Ukraine” and “Exiles Cannot Save Russia: But the West Can Learn From—and Should Support—Those Who Fled Putin” as well as “Forever Putinism: The Russian Autocrat’s Answer to the Problem of Succession.” Lipman has served as editor or deputy editor of various Russian‑ and English‑language publications over the past three decades. From 2003 to 2014, she was an associate at the Carnegie Moscow Center, where she edited the journal Pro et Contra. She is a frequent commentator in international broadcast media and has written extensively on Russian affairs for both Russian and U.S. outlets, including The Washington Post (2001–2011) and The New Yorker online (2012–2017). Lipman taught courses on contemporary Russia at Indiana University (Bloomington) and Grinnell College (Iowa) from 2017–2019.
Denise Garcia
Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor of International Studies in the Center for Global Studies
Visiting Fall Quarter 2026
Denise Garcia will serve as the Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor of International Studies in Northwestern University’s Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences in fall 2026. She will join Weinberg’s Roberta Buffett International Studies Program to teach the course Artificial Intelligence & World Politics.
Garcia is a full Professor at Northeastern University in Boston and a founding faculty member of its Experiential Robotics Institute. Garcia was appointed to the Global Commission on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military and served her term until 2026. Before joining Northeastern, she worked for 3 years at the World Peace Foundation, part of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. She is formerly a member of the International Panel for the Regulation of Autonomous Weapons (2017–2022), of the Research Board of the Toda Peace Institute (Tokyo, 2020–2023), and of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous & Intelligent Systems (Autonomous Weapons Group). She is currently a member of the Institute for Economics & Peace in Sydney, Australia and an advisor to the Global Challenges Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. She was a funded Nobel Peace Institute Fellow in Oslo, Norway in 2017. Garcia collaborates closely with projects in her home country, Brazil.
Garcia has organized a month-long immersive program in Geneva every year since 2007. She takes her students to learn about diplomacy, world politics, citizen science, and technology in the city known as the capital of peace. She holds a PhD from the Graduate Institute of International Studies at the University of Geneva.
Sheldon Yett
Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor of International Studies in the Center for Global Studies
Visiting Fall Quarter 2026
Sheldon Yett will serve as the Roberta Buffett Visiting Professor of International Studies in Northwestern University’s Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences in fall 2026. He will join Weinberg’s Roberta Buffett International Studies Program to teach the course Humanitarian & Development Practice in the Multilateral Context: Institutions, Challenges, & Risk Management.
Yett currently serves as the UNICEF Representative to Sudan, a role he has held since August 2024. A national of the United States, he has worked for UNICEF since 1997 and has extensive experience in managing both development and humanitarian emergency programs in Burundi, Somalia, Kosovo, and UNICEF’s emergency division in New York. Yett has served in multiple assignments as UNICEF Representative, including to Armenia (2005–2008), Macedonia (2008–2013), Liberia (2013–2016), the Pacific Islands Multi-Country Office (2016–2021), and Bangladesh (2021–2024). Before joining the UN, he worked as a journalist. Yett holds a Master of Arts in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts from Reed College.